Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos

Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos
General Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, c. 1950
Born	3 April 1897 Preveza, Greece (then Janina Vilayet, Ottoman Empire)
Died	15 August 1989(1989-08-15) (aged 92) Athens, Greece
Allegiance	Greece
Service/branch	Hellenic Army
Years of service	1913–1952
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	3/40 Evzone Regiment (1940–41) 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade (1944–45) I Army Corps (1948) II Army Corps (1948–49) Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff (1951–52)
Battles/wars	World War I (Macedonian Front), Asia Minor Campaign, Greco-Italian War, Battle of Rimini, Dekemvriana, Greek Civil War
Awards	Cross of Valour in Gold
Relations	Euclid Tsakalotos (1st cousin, twice-removed)
Other work	Greece Ambassador to Yugoslavia

Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos (Greek: Θρασύβουλος Τσακαλώτος; 3 April 1897 – 15 August 1989) was a distinguished Greek army Lieutenant General who served in World War I, the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, World War II and the Greek Civil War, rising to become Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff. He also served as Greece's Ambassador to Yugoslavia.

Tsakalotos was born in Preveza in 1897, at a time when it was still a province of the Ottoman Empire. At the age of thirteen, he went to Alexandria, to make the acquaintance of a cousin who lived there. A few years later, he entered the Hellenic Army Academy in 1913 and graduated from it as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant in 1916.

He fought at the Macedonian Front of World War I as well as in Anatolia against the Turks, being promoted to Lieutenant in 1917 and Captain in 1920. In the interwar period he held various staff appointments and commands, as well as a teaching post in the War Academy. He was promoted to Major in 1924, Lt Colonel in 1930 and Colonel in 1938.

During the Greco-Italian War, he commanded the 3/40 Evzone Regiment, until he was appointed Chief of Staff of II Army Corps on 22 March 1941, shortly before the German attack and occupation of Greece. In 1942, he managed to escape the country and reach Egypt, where the Greek government in exile resided. There he was placed in charge of the Ismaïlia training centre, before assuming command of the newly formed 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade in April 1944. He led his brigade during the Gothic Line offensive in Italy, including the Battle of Rimini, and then in the Dekemvriana clashes with the pro-Communist EAM-ELAS in Athens in December 1944.